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A matter of distance
Phys.org on Sept. 10 reported on work done by Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Stephen Kane and a team of astronomers that pinpointed the "Venus Zone" around a star, which will help astronomers to better classify exoplanets. Because of atmospheric differences, "the Earth is Dr. Jekyll and Venus is Mr. Hyde, and you can't distinguish between the two based only on size. So the question then is how do you define those differences, and how many 'Venuses' is (the Kepler space telescope) actually finding?" Kane said. "If we find all of these planets in the Venus Zone have a runaway greenhouse-gas effect, then we know that the distance a planet is from its star is a major determining factor. That's helpful to understanding the history between Venus and Earth."
Police, smarter phones cut theft
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Jeff Snipes commented on a 2013 spike in crime in San Francisco for a Sept. 11 article in The Potrero View. "The 2013 spike seems to be getting reversed ...(with most of it caused by a) massive increase in thefts and robberies of smart devices, such as phones, tablets, etc.," Snipes said. He attributed the reversal to the "kill key" on Apple devices and increased enforcement efforts by the San Francisco Police Department.
Anchors aweigh
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Sept. 10 that President Les Wong has agreed to make SF State an anchor tenant of a new "innovation district" being built in San Francisco's Hunter's Point neighborhood. "We plan on being an anchor tenant," Wong said. "Right now, we're talking to our different departments to see what components make sense."
For more media coverage of faculty, staff, students, alumni and programs,
see SF State in the News.
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